Empire had the good fortune yesterday to run into the astonishingly attractive Eva Mendes and – inbetween talking to her about her new film, Hitch, and trying not to stare at her cleavage – they asked her about her involvement in Mark Steven Johnson’s comic book movie/supernatural Western, Ghost Rider, which has already begun preliminary filming in Melbourne.
And although Mendes, who plays Roxanne – a reporter who becomes the object of affection and potential salvation for Nicolas Cage’s cursed stunt biker, Johnny Blaze – didn’t spill any huge plot points, she did so for a very good reason.
"We’re working on the script right now, just fine-tuning it a bit,” she revealed. “A new writer just came on board. We’re exchanging ideas and all that. But the concept art is amazing. When I saw that, I was like 'ohmigod, that is so cool!' It made me feel like a little kid."
Empire, being the lucky little hellions that we are, has glimpsed some of the concept art for the $100 million movie, in which Cage’s Blaze is tricked by the Devil into becoming a flaming-skulled, bike-riding Spirit of Vengeance by night, and we can confirm that, if Johnson can get what’s on the page up onto the screen, this should be something pretty special.
It’s surprising, though, that a new writer has been brought onboard at this late stage, particularly given that Daredevil helmer Johnson is known to write his own scripts, but presumably with a couple of weeks to go on his biggest film yet, he’s brought someone in so he can concentrate on directing.
Mendes wouldn’t disclose the identity of the new scribe, though – she was too busy waxing lyrical over the main reason she wanted to make the film: her first meeting with Johnson – ace foosball and pool player, and one of the nicest guys in Hollywood.
"The first time we met each other, we sat down at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles which is a bit much, but we still wound up there because it is very convenient," recalled Mendes.
"We were all very nice and it was very sweet, and we were looking at the menu. And there was Peekytoe Crab on the menu and neither of us had ever heard of Peekytoe crab. Now I see it everywhere! But we were trying to be polite and I ask him 'do you know what Peekytoe Crab is?' and we lose it! You know when you don't even hear sounds coming out of each other because you're laughing so hard? We were like that and after that we had to work with each other. We’re going to have a lot of fun."
And then, just before she started scanning the menu of the Dorchester Hotel for more bloody Peekytoe Crab, Mendes had time to add one more sentence about her upcoming gig.
"One of the things that I really love too is that Nic Cage is really obsessed with Ghost Rider. Do you know this? He has a Ghost Rider tattoo on his arm,” she laughed. We did actually, but it would have been rude to mention it, so onwards… “So what that does for me is it provides me with much excitement, because when you're working with someone who's so passionate, especially someone at the level of Nic Cage - I've been wanting to work with him for so long, I think he's just genius – that’s exciting to me. This is somebody's dream, you know? It's great to be part of that."
Ghost Rider – the latest Marvel Comic adaptation to hit the big screen – also stars Wes Bentley, Peter Fonda and Donal Logue, and will hit cinemas sometime in 2006. Needless to say, we’re all over this one like a peekytoe crab on, erm, a smaller sea creature.